Best of 2000: Best New Old Bar

This place was a real grotto. No, a bunker, down there at the bottom of Washington Street by the I-5 overpass. There was a bad old painting of an exploded dynamite stick over the door. Wedged between a Mexican take-out joint and a liquor mart, it's a grungy little room with a fun-house pool table. Cheap, bad beer. Listless, dusty old barflies. That was the Dynamite Bar, a couple years back. Well, it's back from the ether. Bar Dynamite, same address, is something else. Resurfaced with a new look, sound, and patronage. From the brick red and black paint, frosted plateglass windows, and bamboo grass out front, through the palm fronds, new retro interior, and hipster herd of sheep...er, clientele, Bar Dynamite is revamped and revitalized, lending cocktail flavor to the area. We suggest Friday night for the DJ spinning bebop.